A woman who says she's always felt like the 'black sheep' of her family had planned on waiting until Christmas Day to announce her pregnancy through a special gift. A spanner has now been thrown in the works, however, after the sister-in-law, who is the only person she confided in about her pregnancy, also discovered she was also expecting, a couple of days ago.
The mum-to-be asked her sister-in-law to wait until after Christmas to tell the rest of the family, reasoning that, at eight weeks and three days, she is farther along in her pregnancy and, moreover, has 'had this moment planned for over a month'. Although she was 'super excited' to learn of her sister-in-law's news, she now fears she'll be 'overshadowed' by her announcement, particularly as she's married to the family’s 'golden child'.
Taking to Reddit, where she goes by the username u/KawaiiKitten97, the 25-year-old woman wrote: "Honestly, it’s only a week of waiting which I think should be more than doable.
"Normally I wouldn’t care about this kind of thing but I’m kind of the black sheep of our family already and my siblings are always seen as better than me or more important. She had agreed that she would wait until after Christmas to tell my parents so that I could have a moment where my family was excited for me and wasn’t comparing me to any of my siblings."
Things, unfortunately, took a turn after her sister-in-law texted to let her know she had in fact decided to tell family members that very evening, as they would be visiting anyway.
Reaching out to fellow Reddit users for advice, she continued: "I’m kind of upset about this because now when I tell my parents, that rare moment of excitement I’ve been waiting for will be overshadowed by the golden child announcing first. I was going to ask her not to do this today as we had an agreement but now I’m unsure.
"I feel like I’m overreacting but this genuinely hurts my feelings as she knows how excited I was to announce this pregnancy that my parents have been waiting three years for."
One person advised: "The saddest thing about this post is you feeling that announcing your pregnancy will finally get their attention and approval. If your sister-in-law announcing her pregnancy means you won't get the approval and attention you crave then there is a big problem with your family. Stop accepting the role of black sheep in your family. You deserve better."
Another commented: "Your feelings are your feelings and it can't hurt to ask, as long as you do so kindly and respectfully. But you also can't set unrealistic expectations or demands.
"Quickly make it clear to her that it wasn't just about being 'on Christmas', it was that you wanted to go first (to avoid being overshadowed, at least for a week), and politely ask her to still delay. But if she says no, she says no, and she has a right to say no if she wants to.
"Sometimes life just doesn't let our dominos fall just the way we were setting them up for and that sucks and is nobody's fault."
Do you have a baby announcement story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
